1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a performance inspection method for an autonomous mobile apparatus capable of performing free motions autonomously according to communication with a remote operation device to inspect whether or not each detection element in a plurality of detection elements provided in the autonomous mobile apparatus for detecting a specific subject in a surrounding environment thereof is functioning normally, and a performance inspection sheet therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an autonomous mobile apparatus, an autonomous mobile robot, for example, may be given. Experiments have been carried out on this type of robot by applying thereto various functions such as environment recognition and autonomous motion so as to make it perform various operations such as transporting an article. By mounting in the robot various kinds of detection elements for recognizing an external state thereof, it is expected that the robot can avoid contacting an object and can perform operations smoothly (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2006-192562).
However, if a detection element mounted in the robot is not functioning normally, it is not possible for the robot to avoid contacting an object when the robot moves autonomously, accordingly, it is impossible for the robot to perform autonomous motions smoothly. Therefore, an inspection is necessary to be performed to check whether or not the detection element mounted in the robot is functioning normally. In detail, firstly, the robot is located at a reference position, and then, a subject to be detected by the detection element mounted in the robot is set with a predefined distance from the robot. The robot performs detection processing of the subject under this situation.
Herein, a plurality of detection elements are mounted in the robot in order to detect an object located not only in the front but also in either the left or right direction or at the back thereof. The detection regions of each of the detection elements are arranged in a radial pattern. An operator suspends the robot located at the reference position from the floor by using a suspension device and rotates the robot. When the robot is rotated sequentially to confront plural directions, it performs the subject detection in each direction it is confronted. In this manner, without disposing plural subjects at the circumference of a circle around the robot, whether or not each of the detection elements is functioning normally in detecting the whole environment surrounding the robot can be inspected only by setting a subject on a line passing through the reference position.
However, the aforementioned operation is troublesome since the suspension device must be used to confront the robot to the plural directions sequentially. Moreover, an installation space is needed to set up the suspension device. Even when an autonomous mobile apparatus, namely an autonomous robot is used in a household or the like, it is desired to inspect the functions at the initiation of the autonomous mobile robot. However, for a common household, it is relatively narrow inside; therefore, it is difficult to set up the suspension device therein. Moreover, it is disadvantage to confront the robot to a predefined direction when it is being suspended, since it is troublesome to perform the operation of adjusting rotation angles of the robot accurately.